บท 23: The Arts Of Selling Blood
A roaring sound was all Aiden heard before he was suddenly yanked backward and Nick stood between him and Serena who was baring her fangs.
The woman's beautiful face was distorted into a beast-like appearance from bloodlust. Her eyes had turned bright red as she stared at Aiden like a hungry lion.
"Serena, I told you that goods are not to be touched," Nick scolded while restraining the other woman in her arms. She threw a glance at Aiden and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry. She was recently turned. You are safe, don't worry."
Aiden swallowed hard. It was difficult to take Nick by her words. If not because of his ailing grandmother, Aiden would have pulled out from the deal altogether and run away as fast as his bicycle could take him.
Serena straightened herself and pushed Nick away. She tucked a lock of hair that dangled in front of her face behind her ear and smiled coquettishly at Aiden. By then, she had assumed her original light blue eye color.
"Sorry, young man. Take it as a compliment. I am usually able to control myself."
Nick shook her head while smiling.
"Aiden, why don't you tell us a little bit about your predicament?"
Aiden nodded and started telling about his grandmother and the sum of money he needed to pay for the leukemia treatment package at the White Chapel hospital.
Nick nodded in apprehension.
"I am sure you know that younger blood sells for more, and the price varies from person to person."
"Yes."
"It also varies from method to method," Nick added.
That one Aiden did not know.
"What methods?"
"Weeeell..."
Serena took Aiden's arm and traced the inside of his arm with her fingers. Her hand settled on the inside of the elbow.
"Here is the usual way. Blood is taken from this spot here and sold to the waiting vampire. It is a lot like popping a wine bottle and pouring it into a wine glass to serve."
"And the other method is..."
Serena yanked on Aiden's arm and her long fingernail traced the veins on his neck.
"The good old way. Directly from the bottle."
Aiden's heart pounded hard inside his ribcage. That meant having a vampire drink blood from his neck directly. It was, to say the least, very risky.
"I know what you are thinking about," Nick said with a placating tone. "I would be lying if I said that things never went awry. This is why this kind of transaction will never happen without safety guards."
It was easily seen from Aiden's pale complexion that he was uncomfortable with the latter method. Nick took out a pad and a pen from her inner pocket and scribbled down a number.
"This is the usual price range for the first method."
She ripped off the piece of paper and handed it over to Aiden.
And then she scribbled another number on another piece of paper, ripped it off, and handed it over to Aiden as well.
"And this is one for the second method."
After seeing the figures, Aiden could understand why James never stopped selling blood.
Both methods generated a lot of money, but the second method paid five times as much as the first method.
Serena tilted her head back to the side and tossed her silver-blond hair backward.
"In the end, it depends on how urgently you need the money, and how much."
Aiden made a little calculation in his head. If he picked the regular blood-selling scheme, he would need to sell blood four times a month to cover the package installment fee. If he picked the other one, though, he would only need to do it once a month.
Aiden looked up from the papers and gazed at Nick and Serena alternately.
"What do I have to do to sell through the second method?"
Serena widened her eyes in surprise. She clearly did not expect Aiden to pick the second method, given his initial reaction when he heard how it was done.
"Selling blood using the direct method has a lot to do with personal taste. If you agree, I will run your profile by a few vampires first."
"Sure," Aiden answered. His mind felt numb. He could not believe that he was negotiating blood sales with vampires at that very moment.
"Great! Then let me take some pictures, alright?"
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